Hugh Hewitt and Salena Zito gush over former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz for considering an independent presidential run

​From the January 28 edition of Salem Radio Network's The Hugh Hewitt Show:​

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​HUGH HEWITT​ (HOST)​: ​You've written great pieces in the Post and the ​Washington Examiner, Salena. I want to focus on whether or not, again, you mention Beltway elites miss stories. I ​think they are missing​ ​Howard Schultz, ​and I think they are missing Venezuelan Spring, and they don't understand Americans always rally to freedom. And they don't understand that Howard Schultz represents something new​ and different, and maybe not the last war that they're fighting. What​'s​ ​your reaction? To both.

SALENA ZITO​ (NEW YORK POST)​: I absolutely agree. ​I absolutely agree. Yesterday, ​I ​just ​retweeted his announcement ​about running,​ saying that he was considering a run, and the amount of people on the left, not the right, because I think people on the right get it because they were drawn to someone outside of political​ sort of​ orthodoxy, they were so dismissive of his chances. And not even chances, but why would you run, nobody wants anyone​ that's​ outside of politics,​ so​ you'd never stand a chance. I'm like, my God, you still don't get Trump, let alone someone else​?​

HEWITT: They're so threatened by Schultz. ​Now, Democrats -- ​he's threatening​ in​ the way that Trump threatened the ​Republican establishment, Schultz threatens the Dem​ocratic​ establishment, ​and ​they​'re so threatened that they​ won't admit​ the information in that​ there​ i​s a path for someone like this. ​I don't know how much of the Republican Party is up for grabs, ​but it's got to be 25​ percent​​. And I don't know how much of the Democratic Party is up for grabs if they go left, but it's got to be 25 percent.

​ZITO: I agree.​

​HEWITT: ​That leaves Schultz with 50​ percent​ and the other ​two​ with 25​ percent​.

ZITO: Yes, absolutely. And ​you know ​you're absolutely right, it is sort of threatening their tribe, if you will. You know, threatening their existence. And it's incredibly dismissive, and I think it's sort of dangerous in the sense that they're unable to accept change. And ​I​ think that's funny because they made fun of the people that supported Trump​,​ because they believed that they were unable to accept change. And I thought they were the ones ​that were most willing to welcome it.